seriously romantic: worth the wait by a.j. pine

worth the wait is the fourth, and likely final, installment in the kingston ale house series. even if you haven't read the other books, this story stands entirely on its own. jeremy denning has worked at the ale house for years, he loves his job, and until recently never really aspired for more. when jamie, the owner of the ale house, starts to consider a partner, jeremy finds himself coveting the role. part of him is conflicted about this, and to prove himself, jamie asks him to attend a microbrewer's conference.

jeremy finds all the chemistry and lab work beyond boring, but when his back seizes up after sitting in uncomfortable hotel conference chairs for 8 hours he seeks out a massage. grace bailey had a last minute cancellation and didn't expect much from the fill-in client. generally she doesn't spend too much time thinking about her clients. she's only taken this job in madison to hide the fact that she is being blackmailed by her almost fiancé from her family. she's feeling guilty because her terrible taste in men could cause her parents a lot of grief, and instead of talking things through she tries to solve everything herself, and goes on a man cleanse as part of that. so she's really not interested in being attracted to her massage client. besides that being wildly unprofessional, she doesn't need the distraction.

but the sparks between grace and jeremy can't be avoided. they keep running into each other, first in madison and then in chicago. when grace confesses her man cleanse, jeremy isn't fazed. he tells her he's happy to wait until she is ready. and this really is what makes the book great. the fact that the two characters are allowed to get to know each other, really talk, without just jumping into bed with each other was really nice. there are several obstacles from both of their exes that they need to overcome, and the man cleanse bit also needs to be completed, but jeremy makes it pretty clear that he's all in. and even when grace has moments of doubt, he knows just how to win her over. the wait is really what let's them develop their relationship and figure things out, and obviously it is all worth it in the end. jeremy is super dreamy, though there is a fight sequence toward the end that has me doubting the reconciliation scene just a bit, because there is no way it wouldn't have been painful to kiss and make up if jeremy had really been as injured as described.

**worth the wait will publish on january 16, 2017. i received an advance reader copy courtesy of netgalley/entangled publishing (select contemporary) in exchange for my honest review.